Report: 'At least 4' candidates have interviewed for Penguins GM job
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been without a general manager since they fired Ray Shero following the club's second-round elimination at the hands of the Stanley Cup Final bound New York Rangers. Oddly, with the exception of some rumblings about NBC analyst Pierre McGuire getting two interviews and super-agent Pat Brisson publicly declaring his lack of interest in the position, there's been next to no news out of Pittsburgh regarding potential candidates.
Like Jay-Z Coming of Age, the Penguins have let their business bubble quietly. Until now, that is. According to a report from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Dave Molinari, the Penguins have interviewed at least four candidates. Sadly, none of those confirmed candidates is McGuire.
The list of candidates whom Molinari can confirm have interviewed includes: Nashville Predators assistant general manager Paul Fenton, Tampa Bay Lightning assistant general manager Julien BriseBois, current Penguins interim general manager Jason Botteril, and Penguins assistant to the general manager Tom Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald is perhaps the most surprising name among the four. Fitzgerald has been in the Penguins organization for seven years, spending two seasons as the club's director of player development before earning a promotion after the club's Stanley Cup victory in 2009. Fitzgerald also served as an interim assistant coach during the 2009 Stanley Cup run.
Fenton has been in the running for any number of general manager vacancies over the past year, and was considered a strong candidate for the jobs in Buffalo, Vancouver and Washington. It's only a matter of time before he gets a look as a top executive, and Molinari suggests that a two-headed monster featuring both Fenton and Botteril may be an option in Pittsburgh.
Finally there's BriseBois, a lawyer and capologist who also serves as the general manager of the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. The highly regarded Lightning executive reportedly enjoys the endorsement of Brisson, who represents a pretty important Penguins forward named Sidney Crosby.